Marked By Lies: A Reverse Harem Series (The Marked Series Book 1) by Paige Orr (best english books to read for beginners .txt) 📕

be because he manipulates the shadows, but I don’t have the time right now to think about it too much. What I see has my lungs seizing and I stop in my tracks, practically yanking him with me, until his ear is close enough to my mouth for me to whisper.

“We’re surrounded, there are at least ten bodies, all holding weapons that seem to be embedded with magic.”

He leans down close to my ear, being careful not to make any noise. I can feel my heart beating out of my chest, as all the different scenarios that could happen rush through my head. I know that I can’t afford to let my nerves get the better of me, but with such malice coming from our attackers, I just can’t help it.

“Do you think you could point out where they are?”

“Yeah, but whatever you’re planning, remember to try and leave one of them alive for questioning."

He gives me a solemn nod, and I do as he asks, pointing out where each figure is hidden. In the next instant, Zaphyr is gone from my side, leaving a barrier of shadows around me, and I wait with bated breath for any sound that could mean he is in danger. I continue to study each of the figures, and it’s only because of that, that I see Zaphyr appearing behind one of them.

Only half of his body is out of the shadows, and he reaches around, placing his hand over the figure's mouth, pulling him back into the darkness. There is a small sound that if I wasn’t paying close attention, I’m sure I would have missed, before Zaphyr reaches out of the shadows, gently placing the body on the forest floor.

Thankfully, the others don’t seem to notice anything is amiss as he begins to work his way through each person. It’s not until after the fifth body hits the floor after putting up more of a struggle than the others, that all hell breaks loose. The others that are here for us, hear the sound of their buddies' body hitting the floor, and without any hesitation, begin to fire shots towards where I last saw Zaphyr. Fae may be practically immortal, but if my fight with the Harpy proved anything, it’s that they’re not invincible.

My heart is in my throat as I watch just how much fire power has been aimed at a man that I’ve begun to care for, and I can feel tears welling in my eyes at the thought of losing him. Just as I’m pulling Justice from her holster, an arm bands around my middle, and across my mouth. I’m just about to attack whoever is behind me, when I hear the beautiful sound of Zaphyr's voice in my ear.

I let out a shaky breath, as I relax in his hold, and he uses his shadows to help us get around behind our attackers. At least they didn’t send a fucking Harpy this time, although I’m guessing with Zaphyr’s help, it would be ten times easier to defeat one. What I really want to know though, is how did these fuckers know where we were. Unless our little escapee had been watching us in the clearing.

I can feel my anger building, knowing that these bastards are at least partly involved with what’s happened to all of the missing Fae. How any of them live with themselves after taking people from their families and people who care about them, I will never know.

Most humans would be terrified to find out what really goes bump in the night. But if this situation has proved anything to me, it’s that the biggest monsters around are the ones we already know. I’m not saying that the supernatural factions don’t have their bad apples, but all this shit leads back to a group of disgruntled, greedy humans.

Once we have made our way around the shooters, and out of their line of sight, we wait patiently for them to either run out of ammo, or take at least stop shooting. Thankfully, it doesn’t take long for that to happen, and Zaphyr uses their distraction to his advantage, taking out another two people before they have reloaded. Unfortunately, I hear Zaphyr grunt, causing me to grit my teeth as I scan the area for him.

I hear his heavy breathing appearing behind me, and I spin around just in time to grab him as he begins to fall to his knees. I help guide him over to the nearest tree for cover, crouching down in front of him, as the assholes that shot him continued firing wildly. It doesn’t take me long to find where he’s been shot, and I do everything I can to wrap the wound before sitting back on my feet.

I know that I can’t expect him to get back up and run into the fray, so I motion with my hand for him to stay where he is before moving silently through the woods. I make sure to have both Justice and Mercy in my hands, as I slowly make my way towards my targets.

I don’t know what sort of magic has been placed on their guns, but if it was strong enough to hurt a Fae, then it sure as shit can do more to me. Knowing this, I’m even more cautious than I would usually be in this type of situation. I can hear our attackers' frustration at losing so many of their own, and yet it not being enough to stop us.

I let everything that these people are responsible for help build my anger as I find the perfect position for me to be able to get a shot off without them catching me, and bring both guns up taking aim. I aim for the two men closest to me, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to steady myself, before taking my